The Artists of Heartside Gallery and Studio-- Lonell

Our featured artist for February is Lonell. 

Here's a little bit about Lonell, in his own words:

"I am 26, I was born and raised in Grand Rapids. When I was growing up, my interests were a weird combination of fishing, hunting and dancing. I did typical childhood things—I ventured a lot, played with friends but always had a wild imagination. When I played I would always imagine I was in a forest, by myself, and everything was a luscious green color. 

When I was younger I would watch JB [James Brown], Michael Jackson, Usher, Aaliyah and I just wanted to copy their dancing. It just blew my mind that a human being could make those moves, and I knew I wanted to do it. James Brown would break down to his knees, and pop back up, it was so phenomenal how talented he was! That’s what moves me with dancing—I dream about having other people look at me the way I used to look at Michael Jackson. It helps me to perfect what I am doing and work towards getting better. I feel free when I am dancing. I can do this. It’s a confidence booster for me. It don’t make me cocky; I don’t think I am better than anybody else, it just helps give me a firm ground to stand on. When I was 16 a friend of mine hooked me up with a dancer named Shirley, and she had a studio where Premier is now (on Weston). She took me to a talent show in Holland, and I knew what I wanted to do. 

Right now I am getting ready for the Heartside Talent Show (on March 30th at Ladies Literary Club). I’m coming up with new moves- want to keep it old school for this show. I practice at a friend’s apartment, with this guy who can really dance. We get together two to three times a week, and it’s very intense. We always stretch first, then we end up doing the same routine what seems like 80 times each! We make it fun, it’s never BLAH! Sometimes it’s challenging to make it work, because we each have different ideas, but we always make it work. 

In the future I want to be here in Grand Rapids, and have God bless me to have a studio here. I’d like to go back to school to learn the business side of things. Grand Rapids has a lot of talent here, and I’d like to be able to help expose it. I am working with this girl Ashley, who wants to teach Therapeutic dance in Heartside. It’d be a new step out of the box, and it’ll help me grow as a person and as a dancer. That type of class could help people physically and mentally, and may help them as individuals to see that they can do this also—like a stress-relieving stepping stone to new things. I’ll also be looking into dance studios in town here, so I can see what they are up to and what I can learn from them. It’s a good time to listen, because sometimes you gotta crawl before you can walk.’"

The Artists of Heartside Gallery and Studio is a monthly feature to highlight some of the wonderful people of the Heartside neighborhood. Visit www.heartside.org and Facebook to keep up with us, to learn about volunteering and other ways to get involved.

Sarah Scott is Arts Coordinator for Heartside Gallery and Studio at Heartside Ministry, and can be reached at [email protected]